On May 1, Dragan Pavlovic, YT3PDT, completed his registration process for Logbook of The World (LoTW), becoming the 50,000th person to take advantage of the ARRL’s online QSL confirmation system. According to ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N, there are more than 3500 individuals from outside the US in the process of obtaining a digital certificate, and more than 1800 individuals inside the US who have started the certificate process, but not yet finished. It is estimated that more than 60,000 people have tried LoTW since its inception in 2003.

Earlier this year, the ARRL and CQ Communications announced that the ARRL will provide support for CQ-sponsored operating awards by LoTW, beginning with the WPX Award. This project has entered the beta testing phase with a select group of hams and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, is on track to be launched to the Amateur Radio community later this month.

“Radio amateurs around the world consider LoTW to be the ‘must have’ awards and electronic confirmation system,” Patton said. “We look forward to planned, long-sought improvements and simplification, and are gratified that so many people have helped the system grow and become more and more useful.”